Euthanasia - The Right to Decide
The definition of euthanasia from the Oxford Dictionary is: “The painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or is in an incurable coma.” Consider the words “suffering,” “painful,” “irreversible” and “incurable.” These words describe a patients terrible conditions and prospects. Euthanasia is known as “mercy killing” for a reason, it is the most, humane, moral and logical form of treatment available to patients that have no hope in fully recovering. If you had to choose between lying in bed dying a slow and painful death, or dying a quick painless death at the time you choose so that you can be surrounded by all your loved ones, which would you choose? With euthanasia,
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Be that as it may, take into consideration that when someone is euthanized nothing is being taken away from them against their will, it is physician-assisted suicide not physician-assisted murder. It is by the patients free will that they can choose to end their suffering, and isn’t free will a fundamental right? Shouldn’t we have the entitlement to choose how we live, and by default how we die? Being able to make this choice is what defines us. Euthanasia is simply the liberty to choose, to not be forced into a situation that causes you pain and suffering. In the famous words of Bob Marley, “Love the life you live. Live the life you love.” In essence, without the free will to make these kinds of choices regarding the value of our life, how can we be expected to love life and truly treat it as a gift.
“Euthanasia is known as mercy killing [or assisted suicide] in order to painlessly terminate one’s life with the humane motive of ending his or her suffering,” states Dr. M. Maisie. Even though it can be argued that euthanasia is no different from a homicide, euthanasia is no the chance to alleviate agony of terminally ill patient. It is unfair and inhuman to force suffering upon any living thing, and we see animals being shown the compassion that many patients wish they had. Euthanasia saves money that could be used to cure patients. Furthermore, death is inevitable for everyone; it is one of the few things promised in life. But isn’t
Euthanasia refers to the intentional bringing about of the death of a patient, either by killing him/her, or by letting him/her die, for the patient's sake to prevent further pain or suffering from a terminal illness. Euthanasia is a complex issue in many underlying theological, sociological, moral, and legal aspects. Its legalization is heavily debated around the world, with strong arguments made for both sides of the issue. The supporters of euthanasia often repeated that "We have to respect the freedom of the patient" or "people should be able to exercise control over their own lives and death." However, Euthanasia, by nature, is "wrongfully killing" or "mercy killing", and if we allow any type of euthanasia, all sorts of negative
Today, there is a large debate over the situation and consequences of euthanasia. Euthanasia is the act of ending a human’s life by lethal injection or the stoppage of medication, or medical treatment. It has been denied by most of today’s population and is illegal in the fifty states of the United States. Usually, those who undergo this treatment have a disease or an “unbearable” pain somewhere in the body or the mind. Since there are ways, other than ending life, to stop pain caused by illness or depression, euthanasia is immoral, a disgrace to humanity, according to the Hippocratic Oath, and should be illegal throughout the United States.
According to Merriam-Webster euthanasia can be defined as “the act or practice of killing hopelessly sick or injured individuals […] in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy”. Don’t allow yourself to confuse euthanasia with Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS), there is in fact a slight difference. Physician-Assisted Suicide is
The word euthanasia, when translated, means "good death." Physician- assisted suicide is a fast, painless death that every terminally-ill person should have the liberty to choose. Euthanasia is not a drawn out process like many terminally-ill patients have to deal with. However most people want to die at home in peace and euthanasia gives people this right. The author indicates that more than half of Americans die in the hospital and that is a sad occurrence (Kim 171). PAS and euthanasia allows patients freedom from physical pain and emotional suffering. According to Willke, proponents of euthanasia are quick to accuse doctors of not letting a patient die in peace (1). The author states there are two different definitions for euthanasia. First voluntary active euthanasia is intentionally administering medications to cause the patient's death at the
Furthermore, the right to die, according to the book, Euthanasia, by Linda Jackson, is considered a basic human right. Medical professionals have claimed to have had their patients not wish to undergo the heaviness of sedation. Today, relationships between doctors and their patients have appeared to be more equal, instead of just relying on the doctor, when it comes to making decisions about the patient’s health (Jackson 30). Given these points, allowing euthanasia to terminally ill patients would give them the chance to choose to end their distress, which therefore allows the right to die and the right to decide which type of treatment the patient would receive.
To begin with, anyone should have the right to decide when their life should end in view of the fact that a person may be feeling intense physical or emotional pain for the average person to bear. Even the word “euthanasia” from the Greek language means
Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide can often get confused with one another and although both are 2 different practices, they share the same end goal; a peaceful death. Today, only a few countries in the entire world have legalized the practice of euthanasia, showing just how controversial the topic has become in recent years. Should someone be able to die just because they feel like it or should valid reasons be required? And who gets to decide whether an assisted suicide is allowed or not? The answers to questions like these are never simple but to guarantee the freedoms of liberty that were given to many in the form of government constitutions, all these questions and more must be answered. Although life on Earth is a gift that was
Active euthanasia should be permitted as a medical treatment to allow people the right to die with dignity without pain and in peace. Euthanasia, also known as assisted suicide or mercy killing, takes on many different forms. When most Americans think of euthanasia, they think of a specific form that is referred to as “active euthanasia” which means to actively do something that will end a patient’s life with or without that individual’s consent. When euthanasia is performed in an involuntary manner it is usually because the patient is comatose, unconscious, or otherwise unable to communicate whether or not they want to have their life prolonged through artificial means. In such cases, the physician makes an
Close your eyes and imagine the person you care about most. Now, imagine them in great pain, suffering because of sickness. There is nothing you or any doctor can do because you have tried everything. The only thing left is to wait and watch them suffer until they die. You would do anything to free them from their pain, but again, there is nothing left to do. Unless there is. Euthanasia is a medical drug that ends a terminally or chronically ill person’s life in a controlled, comfortable way. Would you want to watch a loved one suffer until they die or allow them to rid their pain quickly? Or if you were in this position, would you want the option of death? The United States should legalize euthanasia because the strict criteria
Euthanasia has been around for many generations. However it has often been questioned whether or not a patient whom has no hope of recovery has the right to decide when and how to end their life. Euthanasia is often defined as ‘the act of deliberately ending a person’s life to relieve suffering’ (NHS choices , 2014). Euthanasia is also described as Mercy killing, however Mercy killing is occasionally defined as allowing someone to die, by withholding extreme medical measures (Dictionary.com, 2015 ). Euthanasia is a very complex issue and has been a controversial issue for a long time, dating back to the time when ancient romans and Greeks supported euthanasia and its practice after the Hippocratic
Euthanasia is defined as deliberately putting to death someone who is suffering from an incurable disease. The word ‘euthanasia’ has Greek roots, meaning “good death”. Euthanasia, the deliberate hastening of a person 's death, was supported by Socrates and Plato in ancient Greece and Rome. The Hemlock Society, a national right-to-die organization, likely took its name from the practice of using hemlock “as a means of hastening death” (S. Biswas). Should terminally ill patients be allowed to end their lives through euthanasia? Is it morally or ethically wrong to allow doctors to assist patients in killing themselves? What are the limits? Who sets the rules? Where has the value placed on human life gone? Euthanasia is morally and ethically wrong and
Life can be a long, treacherous journey filled with many blessings, disappointments, surprises, and failures. However, the only thing guaranteed in our unpredictable lives is that one day each of us will meet our death. According to the Mariam Webster’s Dictionary, euthanasia is ‘the act or practice of killing someone who is very sick or injured in order to prevent any more suffering.’ Understandably, one suffering from a terminal illness such as AIDS, cancer, or Alzheimer’s, may think it best to put an end to their agony as soon as possible. Although it can be argued that there may be good intentions in carrying out this “mercy killing”, they do not change the fact that euthanasia is murder and should remain illegal in the United States of America.
Euthanasia is another term for mercy killing. It is defined as the act or practice of putting to death painlessly a person suffering from an incurable or painful disease. Meanwhile, in the 21st century it has been argued that euthanasia is one of the most pressing social concerns of our times. Moreover, it is usually done by doctors to their patients who are terminally ill. Although euthanasia ends the suffering of the patients, it can damage the teachings of some religions,
Euthanasia is defined as “the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy”. (Unknown, 2012) Euthanasia ends the individuals’ life by either lethal injection or the suspension of medical treatment. Euthanasia is not legalized in many places. When it comes to the debate of Euthanasia, there are more arguments on why it should be legalized than why it should stay illegal.
First of all, what is euthanasia? It is something that not many people think about until they or a friend or family member is put in a position where they might actually have to consider it. Euthanasia, in the dictionary, simply is: the action of ending someone’s life in a painless way. It seems pretty simple but in reality it is a lot more complicated, not only for the people involved but for the society in general as well.